TED O’BRIEN – SHADOW MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY
TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW BOLT
SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA
22 February 2022
Topics: Energy prices, learning from international partners, study tour, nuclear
Andrew Bolt: Let me first ask this. What does our amazing record of failure with low emissions projects so far tell us hot rocks failed wave generators failed snowy 2.0 failing poles and wires blowing out Kurri Kurri plant. Delayed warnings now of electricity shortage is your conclusion?
Ted O’Brien: Andrew, firstly, nice to be on your show. I think listening to that long list, the conclusion is probably an obvious one. And that is we’ve got a lot of work to do to get this right. And we’ve got to learn from other countries who have been getting it right. And what I found in talking and visiting recently the United States and Canada, but also Japan, is that there’s a pragmatism in those countries that currently doesn’t exist in Australia. And I think that’s probably a big part of the story here. They are far better led by engineering and economics. And that has to be really what drives any policy formulation moving forward. We have to rely on those who know how the systems work. And we have to rely on people who can do the sums, the straight mathematics.
Andrew Bolt: That’s so true. I mean, Japan, in particular, very pragmatic country can’t afford not to be and yet, you know, I know exactly what you were doing. And I approve of it. The Albanese government though mocked you, mocked you even called you bizarre and disrespectful for filming in Hiroshima, which was destroyed with an atomic bomb yet Japan thinks, tragic though that is, nuclear is still the way to go for its power supplies. What did you actually learn there?
Ted O’Brien: More than anything, Andrew I learned that the Japanese people have a such a common sense view. When it comes to energy. You know that they’ve been through the worst of it. When it comes to atomic bombs. They had the Fukushima incident. Yet here they are leveraging nuclear energy for their future. Yet in Australia. We have the prime minister and a whole host of others refusing to even contemplate a conversation about it. The Japanese, I found them unbelievably open in the conversation I’ve been I’ve been to Japan back and forth most of my business career before politics and you know in hindsight, I think I was a little bit nervous about even entertaining a conversation with the Japanese previously about nuclear technology. But gee was I wrong. They are absolutely open to talking about it. They understand it probably in a very unique way. It’s a complicated relationship. But their conclusion is they can turn nuclear technology into a good and they see it as a good not just for firing up their energy which is good for economic purposes but also their security, energy security iss national security and few countries know that more than Japan.
Andrew Bolt: And Ted O’Brien you’ve neglected the one other selling point if you really do believe in global warming. It also matters if you really do believe we need to go to a reliable 24 hour a day power source that is emissions free. Nuclear power will do that job for you. Ted O’Brien, thank you for finding this. I mean, when they’re mocking you, you know that you’ve got them rattled the Labor Party. They can’t fight you with facts they try it with laughter. Thank you so much for your time. Stick to your guns. I really appreciate your time.